


eager

by romeas



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe - College/University, Exchange Student AU, Fluff and Angst, Idiots in Love, M/M, Sexual Content, Sexual Tension, Slow Burn, Strangers to Lovers, markhyuck in europe, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:34:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25346290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/romeas/pseuds/romeas
Summary: A Donghyuck tired of routines and Seoul, decides to enroll in an exchange student program in his second year of university in hope to find himself again — instead, a Mark Lee waltzes in his life in the form of a silly film student that lost himself in the middle of a new city wearing a: "Written and directed by Quentin Tarantino" shirt and gym shorts.Alternatively: Donghyuck meets Mark in a very warm Barcelona.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee
Comments: 11
Kudos: 92





	1. chapter 1

Somewhere underneath the desire to jump to the most likely freezing water that Donghyuck’s new community swimming pool had, he kept climbing up the stairs that lead to his new apartment. There was already sweat piling up in his eyebrows, his breath was heavy and his tongue felt so dry the only thing that was on his mind was a cold glass of water — and the goddamn swimming pool.

Once he reached his floor, Donghyuck mumbled something under his breath about how odd it is that Europeans have still not moved to keypads and how he’s stuck with having to keep in mind that he needs a key to get to his home. He knew he’s already getting too carried away when he started to call a place that isn’t his beloved Seoul home.

Seoul is the kind of place that makes you lose yourself, an ever changing city. Trends in fashion, food, architecture, brand choices — all of them are lighting fast. It’s a city that never gets boring. It does have its traditions and holds on to those strongly with pride, but Seoul is an eating, drinking, nightlife and shopping city. There’s always so many options and you’ll never run out of choices. It’s indeed a very lovely city that makes you fall in love with tradition along with nightlife and its people. Seoul is also huge — you can’t really start walking and expect to have seen every corner by the end of the day.

Donghyuck can’t really say he loves the aspect of Seoul being such an alive place. He called it home because he hasn’t been elsewhere since he moved out from his hometown in Jeju.

One moment he was enjoying himself in some Itaewon karaoke bar with his group of friends, the next he was filling out a form for an exchange semester to Europe. He missed Jeju.

He missed Jeju and its humid summers — he missed the coat of sweat that would surround his skin and how cold it got once a breath of wind passed him. The happiness people in town irradiated in summer days. The happy auras and the nights by the beach feeling the light summer breeze in his face.

Everyone insisted on calling him a summer child but he loved winter the most.

The one thing Donghyuck was sure was that he was in love with winters in Jeju. He recalls it being warmer than the Seoul winter. That’s the one thing he remembers about his childhood.

The average winter temperature in Jeju is around five degrees, something he appreciates because he really hates the feeling of his lips drying out, the shortness of breath and losing the feeling in his toes. All of the above is what happens to him every winter in Seoul and he despises it.

Jeju, on the other side, makes you love winter. He mentally sighed just by thinking about the rainy afternoons locked in his room looking out of the window. Donghyuck’s mother always scolded him by saying: “I told you a thousand times you should close your window when it’s raining outside, Donghyuck. You’re going to get a cold.” He immediately closed it when she told him so but, once she left the room and he was certain he was far enough, he ran to open it again.

The rain always made the city a whole five degrees colder but he endures it just because it’s Jeju and he’s happy there.

All of these might just be things he made up in his mind since he didn’t really remember his time in Jeju — the kind of things he wants to experience. He’s tired of hearing his mother talk about how content of a child he was, how the expression in his face made you believe he felt good and free. He was a kid that was in love with life. The idea of getting to live a long life was such a joy to him.

Perhaps he just missed being a kid. Either way, he took advantage of that and enrolled in the exchange program.

In the long fourteen hours flight he had from Seoul to Barcelona, he wondered why he had chosen a city so far away from his hometown. He let himself believe he wanted to experience a new city that kind of reminded him of Jeju. In reality, he wanted to get away from normality as much as possible.

Donghyuck was tired of routines — which is odd because he can’t live without one. He can’t go to sleep without knowing the exact time he’s going to wake up the next morning. He can’t enjoy a cup of coffee in the morning if he doesn’t have his planner next to him, ready to plan his day and put in order everything he has to do.

He doesn’t drink because he knows he won’t be able to control in which state he’ll wake up in — or where.

Donghyuck is twenty-one and hasn’t gotten drunk since he was nine-teen because he’s scared of losing control.

He really hated the sound his suitcase made when he dragged it around the uneven streets of Barcelona. There were eyes on him every step he made. He blamed his damned anxiety and the coat he was wearing in early september.

He was stupid enough to google how was the weather from september to january and undoubtedly every spanish website said those were the coldest months of the year.

Donghyuck, knowing himself and his low tolerance for cold, decided to pack his most wintery and thick clothes.

He didn’t think for a damn minute how cold in Spain meant five to ten degrees at the lowest.

Barcelona welcomed him one tenth of september with twenty-five degrees as the average weather.

The sound Donghyuck’s bag made when it hit the floor startled the boy that was already inside his room. Their room, he supposed.

Ignoring the looks the other was sending him, he crossed the tiny kitchen to what seemed to be a mix of a study and lounge area — two desks situated against the wall along with a drawer for each of them and a pair of shelves above it. There was also a not-so-large table in the middle of the room with two chairs.

Once he came into their bedroom area did he realise there were bits of added decoration to the room — posters in one side of the room and small artwork pieces on top of one of the bed’s headboard. There were also two open suitcases on top of that bed too so when he looked back to the boy, he assumed that, yes, that was indeed his roommate.

He decided to gain control of his thoughts and approach his roommate with a smile hoping it didn’t look too forced: “Donghyuck Lee,” he said, finally, as he extended his hand. “Sorry, I didn’t know I was getting a roommate.”

“Everything’s fine," the boy said, nodding, "Don’t worry, I would be surprised if that was the case too."

As Donghyuck led his suitcase to the untouched bed, he said: "It was quite rushed for me, choosing the exchange program. Perhaps that's why I wasn't informed of the roommate situation. I did expect a room for myself, I have to admit."

"Oh," his roommate let out, "Maybe they got the arrangement wrong? We could go and fix it. You can't ever know with these things."

Donghyuck hummed, "Too much paperwork. It's fine, I'll live." And he offered a grin to his roommate.

It seemed that Donghyuck's smile eased his roommate's nerves. From what he said, the other was expecting him while he didn't know anything about the roommate situation.

"Renjun Huang, by the way," his roommate or, well, Renjun said, "Almost forgot about the most important part of an introduction." Donghyuck, who laughed out loud with a smirk, said: "Don't let anyone know your real name," Renjun already started to giggle at his words, "Names have power."

"Quit the dramatics, you told me your name first," he tried to sneak a smile but jokingly said: “Who said that was my real name?"

Renjun smirked at that and retorted: "There's no such thing as real names." Donghyuck caught a glint in Renjun's eyes as he said that and immediately understood what he meant, "You might be right, Renjun."

"I know I am."

As they talked schedules and decided on room organisation, Donghyuck ran a hand through his hair and wasn't pleased to learn his hair was still damped with sweat.

Renjun decided to get some unpacking done while Donghyuck took a quick nap — exhaustive was too small of a word to describe how he felt after the long flight, dealing with people's stares and the roommate situation. That was too much social interaction for one day, Donghyuck pronounced.

Apparently his inner thoughts didn't get the hint because he woke up from his nap a few minutes before lunch time. By then, Renjun was already done unpacking and was playing with his ipad while sitting on their tiny dinner table.

At the sound of sheets rustling, Renjun looked up at him and sent him a small smile, "Wanna go out and grab some lunch? We still haven't gone grocery shopping. Obviously."

Donghyuck's mind was still clouded with the remains of his nap but he murmured: "Obviously."

Renjun laughed at what he supposed was his sleepy face and locked his ipad. When he got up to get a glass of water, he looked at what Donghyuck was wearing and almost choked on his water.

"Why the hell are you wearing a sweatshirt?" He didn’t manage to keep all of the water in his mouth as there were small drips running down his neck, "It's like twenty-eight degrees outside, Donghyuck, have you already gone insane? We've only been roommates for two hours."

Donghyuck huffed, "It's September, why would it be so hot?"

"We are literally in Spain, what did you expect?”

He thought it was better for him to not reply if he didn't want to see Renjun's evil smile again. What a pain in the ass his roommate was.

"Lunch. Now." Donghyuck grumbled as he got up from bed and was already on his way out of their room when Renjun stopped him at the door and pointed his finger at him.

"Grumpy. You might wanna change out of those clothes, yes?" He shook his head while muttering curses at him as he went through one of his suitcases, Renjun laughed at him.

Donghyuck really didn't want to recall the story of why he thought September would be a really cold month, especially to Renjun, but he ended up giving in and embarrassing himself again.

Someone could say Donghyuck didn't start the day with his right foot but, to be completely honest, he was content. Yes, Renjun was having a laughing fest at his expense and he spent half of the day soaked in sweat but he wasn't home. He was in a totally new place for him to explore, have new experiences, meet new people — he guessed he didn't mind Renjun was the first person he met.

Renjun was irritating. They had met barely three hours ago and Donghyuck already knew the other would be a handful to deal with. Apparently, Renjun was a history major, which meant that in the span of the fifteen minutes that it took to find a place to eat lunch, Renjun told him a huge amount of facts about the city and the history behind its walls.

They decided to get  _ Udon.  _ It was convenient since they did take out and both Renjun and him didn't really want to sit and had a proper meal.

Donghyuck decided to get yakisoba while Renjun prefered fried rice.

Once they had chopsticks and their box full of food, they started to walk besides the park that was next to their apartment. Donghyuck realised he didn't mind spending time with Renjun, even though they just met. It was easy to talk to him.

"How do you know so much about the city?" Donghyuck asked, "I thought you were part of the exchange program too."

"I am." Renjun confirmed while eating a spoonful of rice, little grains stuck in the corner of his mouth. Messy. "Why do you think I'm here, Donghyuck?"

Donghyuck frowned, "To.. new experiences?" Renjun made an effort to swallow his food before laughing and looked at him from the corner of his eye.

"Not all of us are here to escape. Me, for one, I'm here to learn about the history of the region from Spanish historians." He hummed very pleased with himself.

At first, he had no idea if he should have taken offense or not. Renjun read him like an open book, his efforts worth nothing.

"This city is a walking history book. It's fascinating," he continued, "I'm not one for languages but it blows my mind how these people managed to conserve their own language after four decades of dictatorship where they were banned from speaking it. Do you know how they did it, Donghyuck?"

Donghyuck shook his head, instantly captured by Renjun's words.

"They kept speaking it in their homes. They fought tooth and nail for it, went against the rules that were implemented, they even got killed for it. Their sense of familiarity is so captivating. I got interested so fast, too. Couldn't wait to see it with my own eyes."

"For a second I thought you were gonna spill some bullshit about getting laid." Donghyuck said, distracted, picking up the tiny pieces of carrots and mushrooms from his own rice and putting them on the side. Vegetables were never his favourite.

When he looked up, he found Renjun looking at him intently, waiting for him to keep talking.

Donghyuck shrugged: "You got me hooked on it, though, you'll have to tell me more about it later."

Renjun smirked and raised his eyebrows but ended up saying: "I'll be happy to tell you all about my boring major." He sighed dramatically at him, "Which, by the way, you still haven't told me about yours."

Donghyuck nodded and proceeded to tell him: "You're in front of an elementary education major," Renjun made a face which Donghyuck replied with narrowing his eyes at him, but he continued, "And before you ask, and judging by the face you're making right now you are totally gonna ask it. Yes, I like kids."

Renjun complained out loud, "What is there to like about those little gremlins? The only thing they do is yell, eat and sleep."

"They're cute, and you're totally jealous. I'm sure you would love to do nothing all day but yell, eat and sleep. Especially yell."

"C'mon," Renjun whined, "Why are you so mean to me?"

"I'm not." He retorted.

"Yes, you are."

"No."

"Yes!" Renjun exclaimed, raising both of his arms, frustrated. He didn't even notice the food that fell from his take out box.

Donghyuck looked at the remnants of his rice on the floor, then tilted his head, the hint of a smirk on his lips and shook his head.

Renjun, defeated, grumbled: "They are blessed by ignorance. Must be nice."

Donghyuck hummed as Renjun grabbed a tissue from his bag and crouched down, cleaning the mess he caused.

"They are, that's what makes them good. I wanna teach them how to keep being good with less ignorance. They will, if they are smart. If they survive life."

Renjun looked up at him with pensive eyes, stood up and as he patted his trousers, he nodded at his words.

"Full respect for educators. You got a point but, you know, they are still kids. Must be hard."

They started walking again, stopping by a trash bin to throw out their take out boxes.

"It is, but no job is easy. It shouldn't be."

"I guess you are right," Renjun said, as he took the final bite of his meal.

"I know I am." Donghyuck smirked with clear amusement in his eyes.

After that, Renjun told him about how they weren't in the same campus because apparently, their university had different faculties spread out throughout the whole city. Donghyuck could already feel the anxiety spreading through his chest but it stopped when Renjun said they were just five subway stops away.

His hopes of having someone by his side the first day of class were crushed, but at least he knew he had a friend once he came back to the apartment — he wasn't sure he could call their shared apartment home just yet. Donghyuck made a comment about it and Renjun immediately gave him a reassuring smile, telling him everyone he met so far was really nice and polite. He didn't know if he could trust his judgement but, at the same time, Rejun was his only option.

They parted ways when Donghyuck mentioned he wanted to go ahead and buy some stuff he might need; spare sheets, a good pillow and new headphones. Renjun agreed with the incentive of Donghyuck coming back later so they could go buy groceries together; "Roommates bonding time!" Renjun exclaimed. Donghyuck could only laugh at the other.

Going shopping by himself the first day he stepped in a new city was truly not a good idea. Donghyuck was pretty sure he walked by this same street at least twice. With only the help of his phone at twenty percent of battery and google maps, he attempted to not get lost.

Surely, he should have checked where to buy the things he needed but going on an adventure sounded like a good idea. At least it did twenty minutes ago, not now when the maps app drained all the battery of his phone insanely quickly. He should probably invest in a portable charger, was the first thing that crossed his mind; he should if he didn't want to get lost again and, by the looks of it, he definitely would.

Once he decided to look up a shopping center, he realised it was way too far and he needed to get the subway. He had nothing on him but some money he exchanged when he landed; not even a credit card since he left his wallet in the safety of his room.

Definitely not a good idea.

While he counted the money he had left, a boy stumbled upon him, not realising his own actions. The mop of black hair surprised him at his side and, for a moment, thought he was about to get mugged but was immediately surprised by a wide eyed boy just a little more taller than him.

He raised his eyebrows at the boy; he seemed to not realise how close they were and he was not surprised once he noticed the other had a pair of wireless earphones on. He sighed in relief but he was a curious boy by nature so he couldn't help but stare at the boy.

Said boy was intently looking at his phone and squinting his eyes to focus better and what looked like the street name. He almost laughed at the fact the interesting boy looked so lost but then he got reminded he was lost too and his smile instantly vanished.

At the sound of his heavy sigh, The boy looked at him and startled when he realised how close they were standing. By this point, Donghyuck already managed to pocket his money and focused on what he was wearing — a tight yellow shirt with the words: "Written and directed by Quentin Tarantino," on it and grey gym shorts, matching with black sneakers.

He looked ridiculous; Donghyuck got reminded of why he hated the colour yellow so much.

Also, The boy was most definitely a film student. Donghyuck grimaced at the thought and was about to start walking again when someone grabbed his arm: "Excuse me?"

Donghyuck, startled, looked at whoever was grabbing him and surprise masked his face when he saw it was The boy.

"Do you, by any chance, go to that university too?" The boy pointed at his shirt and Donghyuck found himself looking at his shirt too. He must have grabbed one of the shirts that came with the welcoming set for his university; they had the name of his university in big bold letters. He sighed and said: "I guess I do?" What came out of his mouth was more a question than an affirmation but The boy understood.

"Fantastic!" The other said, relieved. His face was a bit red and he had drops of sweat falling from his forehead to his ear — which was adorned with a beautiful industrial piercing. "I'm on the exchange program and definitely got lost looking for the dorms. Do you know where they are?" It was clear The boy was embarrassed, judging by how quickly his ears turned red and how he was scratching the back of his head. Donghyuck almost denied he knew anything but he took pity on the other. If the reason why was because of how attractive he was, he refuted it.

"I do," he nodded. The boy's eyes quickly widened and a smile started growing on his face, "In fact, I live there, too. I can walk with you." He added.

When he blurted out those words, he forgot about the fact he was lost too and didn't know how to go back to the apartments. The boy left one of the bags he was carrying on the floor to extend his hand at Donghyuck and prompted: "Mark Lee."

Donghyuck, finally, got rid of the frown on his face and smiled: "Donghyuck Lee."

He guessed he didn't mind getting lost in the streets of Barcelona with an interesting Mark Lee. Just how many exchange students was he going to meet on his first day?

  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "What do you think about coming over and watching a movie with me?"
> 
> "I'm not watching a movie with a film student. Not today, not ever. Especially not with someone that actually likes Tarantino. I thought we were joking about that."
> 
> Mark gaped. When he was about to blurt something out, Donghyuck interrupted him: "And I’m drunk."
> 
> "Scared you’ll do something you’ll regret?" Mark asked him, a smirk plastered on his face. Donghyuck looked at him, he was probably joking. He shrugged.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heeeeeeeeeeeey. i can't believe im posting this after so long T_T i really like this chapter so i hope u guys enjoy it!
> 
> tw: alcohol, lots of it. mentions of vomit (it's really Just a mention).

Checking out piece after piece, rummaging through his still unpacked suitcase, Donghyuck couldn’t believe he didn’t find anything to wear that night.

He let himself fall backwards onto his bed in frustration.

At the noise, Renjun turned around from his desk chair and looked at him, raising his eyebrows impossibly higher.

“Still haven’t found anything for tonight?”

Donghyuck whined into his pillow, stomping his feet on his bed.

“It’s not even an actual party. We’re just meeting Jaemin and a couple of his friends.”

Donghyuck whined louder this time. Renjun rolled his eyes at him and turned around to continue working on his essay.

A minute passed when he heard Donghyuck stomping his feet even harder. Renjun, annoyed, closed his laptop and focused all his attention on the other boy.

Donghyuck looked at him, half of his face pressed into his pillow, eyes half closed, lips forming a pout. “But it’s not Jaemin’s apartment! Not like I’ve been there before but, you know, it’s weird going to a stranger’s apartment!”

“Not a stranger.”

“A friend of Jaemin’s, whatever. My point stands.”

Renjun held his gaze for a second, trying to figure out if Donghyuck was serious.

“It's literally not that big of a deal.”

“It is!”

“It's not. We’re just going for a pre-game. It’s not like we’re gonna stay all night there.”

“Do you even know whose apartment it is?” Donghyuck pressed.

Renjun ran a hand through his hair, a smile drawing on his lips as he thought about what Jaemin told him earlier that day.

“I’m pretty sure the guy is a year older. Very tall and very handsome. Jaemin’s words.”

Donghyuck instantly paled and his eyes went wide.

“Renjun!” And whined again.

He looked at him, a frown already forming on his eyebrows, starting to get irritated at Donghyuck’s nonsense.

“What?”

“Jaemin said he’s handsome. If he says so it has to be true, you know how he is. This couldn’t be worse!” Donghyuck quickly got up from his bed and Renjun saw him run to the bathroom.

Once there, just right before stepping on the shower, he yelled, “we’re going to a handsome guy’s apartment. I can’t smell!”

At his words, Renjun, amused, murmured, “fair enough, Donghyuck. Fair enough.”

And went back to his essay. He figured it would be best to finish it before going out tonight.

Half an hour later, Renjun closed his laptop and let out a loud sigh. Donghyuck perked up at that.

“You done?”

Renjun nodded while rubbing his eyes with his hands. “Done.”

“Good. Now get ready or we’re going to be late,” Donghyuck said. Renjun looked at him. “You can’t be late to a pre-game.”

“Yes, you can. And we’re about to be,” he said exasperated. “C’mon. Don’t look at me. You have ten minutes.”

Renjun decided to ignore him.

Donghyuck was already ready — had been for at least half an hour. He managed to find clothes he insisted were appropriate for the night, styled his hair so it looked messy but not too messy and put on his expensive cologne. Not like they were going to a club or anything, but he insisted. He was persistent on getting ready as early as possible, too. Renjun still didn’t know why.

As he put on a black t-shirt, black jeans and tied a flannel around his waist he asked: “Why are you so nervous about this whole thing?”

Donghyuck, who was distracted with his phone, gaped at him when he heard him. “Who says I’m nervous? I’m not nervous.”

Renjun looked at him with incredulity dancing in his eyes. “Yes, you are. I just wanna know why.”

“No reason.”

“So you are nervous.”

“What? No, I’m not,” Donghyuck quickly said.

“You just admitted so. C’mon. Is anything wrong or something?” He said as he looked around his side of the room, searching for his keys and his phone. “I won’t make you come if that’s the case.”

Donghyuck handed him his keys that were on top of the kitchen counter. “Nothing is wrong,” he grumbled, “I’m just bad with people.”

Renjun put the keys on the back of his jeans and tilted his head to the fridge while looking at his roommate. “You get the beer, I’ll pick up the food.”

“Sure.”

While Donghyuck was trying to hold on two packs of six beers by himself, doing his best to not drop them, Renjun said: “You’re just bad with cute boys.”

Donghyuck startled, his hold slipping. “Not true!”

“Definitely true. Did you forget about what happened last week already?”

“That is not fair. The guy was a weird one. I was just helping him out.”

“You were flirting.” Renjun said, “Or tried to,” he added in a murmur.

“I heard that!” Donghyuck yelled from the front door, “Now, be quick or the stores are gonna close before we get any food.”

“Don’t change the topic.”

“I’m not. I’m telling you I wasn’t flirting. We met the first day we got here and he seemed confused so I helped him. Is this what I get for being a good person?”

“A good person you say?”

Donghyuck pouted. “Okay. I just wanna make a good impression. Jaemin was fine because you already knew him and you’re my roommate.”

At this point, they were both arguing on their front door. Fortunately, no one was around the building at that time. Everyone was either already out or decided to stay in for the night and sleep before classes started.

“What’s with me being your roommate?” Renjun asked.

“It’s different,” Donghyuck said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Different? Why? Because I get to see how horribly messy you are and hear you cry every single night?”

Donghyuck’s eyes widened. “I’m not messy,” he protested and his cheeks reddened. He paused in unwanted contemplation. “...Maybe I am. Just a little bit. But that’s not the point.”

He inhaled and exhaled. Renjun laughed — as if he was the one that had to calm down from all his nonsense.

“It’s different because we live together.”

“Okay, just, whatever,” he unlocked his phone to show it to Donghyuck, “Have you seen the time? Everyone must be there already.”

The thing about freshers week is that it’s an absolute madness. The ones that lived in the student residence get to live it at its full potential. It wasn’t a crazy event but some seniors prepared some activities during the day for whoever wanted to have fun and meet other people. Donghyuck had to admit it, they sounded fun, but he wasn’t one for that kind of thing. He prefered to meet people at classes or through his friends. He didn’t like meeting new people, especially while he was drunk out of his mind. Not that he drank but, it happens.

During the week, he met Jaemin. He was one of the friends Renjun met on his first day. It was a matter of time for them to meet given that their apartments were on the same floor — and Renjun’s infatuation with the other.

It hadn’t been a week and he already knew Jaemin was a business major because he loved all things business, really. But he also loved to carry an analog camera with him at all times and shoot pictures here and there.

Now, Renjun’s sole reason for coming to Barcelona was to study history but he sure loved the attention he was receiving, being the one Jaemin always pointed at with his camera.

Donghyuck and Jaemin got along surprisingly fast. It was an instant, first-love kind of feeling for both of them — in a platonic way.

Jaemin loved colours and shapes and rambled infinitely about the things he loved. Donghyuck loved listening to him — the moment Donghyuck mentioned he was studying to be an elementary teacher, Jaemin yelled in excitement, telling him he adored kids and that, in another life, he would have chosen that path if it wasn’t for his little brother. He loved kids but spending all his time with one ruined it for him, he said, laughing, his eyes sparkling under the lights, full of love and adoration.

Three knocks on the door was all it took for Yukhei's face to show up in front of them. Donghyuck's eyes traveled from the other's eyes to his kind-of-exposed chest, his waist, his thighs and back to Yukhei's face. The other stood there, leaning his side against the door of his own apartment, face inclined to one side, eyebrows up.

"And you are?" His words trailed off at the two boys. They were strangers to him but in some way, it didn't feel awkward at all.

Renjun perked up, "Jaemin's friends."

"Oh!" Yukhei exclaimed, raising his hand to his nape, entangling small pieces of hair in between his fingers, "He mentioned you: the history major and the kiddies boy? Sure! Come in, Come in," he stood on one side of the door so they could come in.

"Kiddies boy? Jaemin is dead to me," Donghyuck muttered while untying his shoe-laces, leaving his shoes next to everyone else's. He hoped no one listened to him but he was unsuccessful given the smile Yukhei wore on his face while looking intently at him. That was embarrassing and Renjun was suspiciously quiet. Donghyuck frowned.

"I hope you brought something because there's next to nothing left. These guys are insane," Yukhei warns them.

Renjun followed Yukhei through the apartment, always at arm length but never getting him out of his sight. "We bought a ton of beer," he said animatedly, raising his arms packed with packs of beers and signaling at Donghyuck who was in his same situation, “And food,” Yukhei nodded.

"You're gonna be fine, then," and left them once they entered the living room. They immediately caught sight of Jaemin, half laying on top of a black haired guy. Renjun shaked his head as a smile creeped up on his face.

Donghyuck sat on the floor, Jaemin's legs on each side of his head, and quickly opened a can of beer. He despised drinking, even more so when he was surrounded by a bunch of boys he didn't really know — but after the week they went through, he deemed it necessary. 

It was a hard week. Classes didn't start until the following week but they had social events scheduled for every day, monday to saturday — sunday was meant for resting, or sleeping, as many of them would need it.

On mornings, they organised get-togethers and the evenings were reserved for parties. So basically, Donghyuck went through a whole week of watching Renjun and Jaemin get drunk out of their minds. Not that he minded, because he was used to it, but. There was always a but on his mind.

He had so much fun at the parties. He liked to dance so he danced until his feet ached. He liked to feel warm and loved being close to other people. He didn't care whether it was his friends or strangers, he had fun.

He felt warm inside his body — a feeling trailing from his thighs, to deep into his stomach, to his chest.

He felt warm in his face, too, when someone got a bit too close and held him from behind, face falling to Donghyuck's shoulder, kissing the exposed skin of his neck.

It definitely was an eventful week.

They soon discovered who Jaemin's partner in crime for the night was: Jeno Lee. Said boy looked like he was having so much fun, chatting with their friend, slowly moving his hand until it reached Jaemin's shoulder. Jaemin had a special glint on his eyes as he rested his cheek against Jeno's and the other giggled, letting go of Jaemin's shoulder and patting his hair. They didn't have anything to worry about.

Soon enough, someone suggested playing drinking games now that everyone was present. They moved to the floor and sat in a circle. Donghyuck looked at everyone, Renjun and Jeno were sitting next to him, Jaemin was already a bit tipsy next to Jeno and Yukhei sat in front of them, trying to get Renjun's attention. This night ought to be fun.

Surprisingly, there was another familiar face in the circle. He was wearing a red shirt and black jeans. Really tight jeans. 

“Mark Lee,” Donghyuck whispered. That was Mark Lee and he was really hard to miss.

Mark sat next to Yukhei, completely unaware of his surroundings. He had a perpetual smile on his face but it didn't really reach his eyes. Donghyuck wondered what his deal was. He huffed. 

Seconds later, while everyone was chattering and there was a questioning game going one, Mark noticed a strong glare on him. He looked up and there he was, looking at him straight into his eyes, unwavering. Donghyuck closed his eyes and shaked his head. If his vision was already clouded because of the alcohol, this made it worse. He wondered if he had drunk too much, internally shrugged and picked up another beer.

After playing a few games, Donghyuck desperately had to go to the bathroom. He tried to get up but his vision was spinning and he could barely hold himself up. Luckily, he felt a hand curling around his waist that kept him from falling. When he turned around, with many difficulties, to see who was the one who saved him, he stumbled upon Renjun's face.

Donghyuck couldn't help but find Renjun's face a bit funny. The other had his eyes almost closed, tinted cheeks and a silly smile plastered on his face.

"Bathroom," Donghyuck let out in between giggles. Renjun started laughing obnoxiously loud, which made the other people in the room lay their attention on them. Donghyuck hid on the side of Renjun's neck.

His roommate was way more drunk than he was, he noticed. At this rate, he doubted they were going anywhere after leaving Yukhei's apartment.

Playing drinking games while sitting was definitely a bad idea. The moment he got up, he immediately realised he was a bit more than tipsy.

Donghyuck didn't know how Renjun managed to move so fast but, in the blink of an eye, he found himself locking the door of Yukhei's bathroom, resting his forehead against the door and catching his breath.

He quickly realised they accidentally entered the bathroom together when he heard Renjun unbuckling the belt of his very tight and dark jeans. A smile creeped on Donghyuck's face.

"Renjun," he murmured. The other turned his head around when he heard his name, "Fuck, I really wanna kiss him," Donghyuck licked his lips. They were a bit dry.

Renjun, without a word, buckled his jeans and turned the faucet on to clean his hands.

With only the sound of the water running, Renjun asked: "His lips. Have you seen his lips?" And sighed, shoulders relaxing, “I can’t stop looking at them.”

Donghyuck giggled, "Fuck. You're right," he said as he got closer to Renjun.

Both of them looked at the mirror. Renjun still had his hands under the water while Donghyuck stood behind him, hands on the back of his neck.

Renjun sighed at Donghyuck's ministrations. It felt good.

"I wouldn't mind making out with him."

Renjun snapped from his relaxed stance as he chuckled. He turned the water off and dried his hands.

Donghyuck didn't move, hands still on the other's neck, looking at their reflection in the mirror, following every movement Renjun made.

Eventually, Renjun turned around and Donghyuck's eyes widened when Renjun put his forehead against his.

They breathed into each other's mouths, never getting close enough. Donghyuck's mind was spinning. He slightly moved his nose until it touched Renjun's. There was a smile already growing on his roommate's mouth.

"Yukhei," Renjun pronounced against his lips. Donghyuck sucked in a breath, "I can't wait to have him as close as I have you right now."

Donghyuck licked his lips, no longer as dry as before, "I wanna," he started moving his arms, slowly brought them to Renjun's sides, curling them around his waist, "I wanna have him close. Kiss his neck. Feel his body against mine."

For a moment, he thought Renjun was going to say: "Like mine is now?" But he didn't.

Renjun breathed a last laugh against his lips and separated their bodies.

Three beers and a bunch of truth or drink games later, they decided to go to the club. Donghyuck wasn't sure if it was a good idea. He wasn't feeling as buzzed as before but, for some reason, Mark's eyes on him the whole night made him feel way more dizzy than alcohol did. 

"Describe your current crush." Donghyuck heard someone ask Mark. The boy, who was intently looking at his lap, perked up at the mention of his name.

"My crush?" He scratched his head. "Well, I don't have any right now...?" And giggled at the groan everyone let out. "There's someone I find attractive, though," Everyone cheered and encouraged him to continue, "Eh, Well. He's not too tall and has a serious expression."

"A resting bitch face, you mean?" He heard someone mutter — everyone laughed.

"No, no. I mean, he's really quiet..? I think. Not that I’ve ever talked to him, but. You know," he let out a chuckle, "he's also older than me. Obviously."

Mark saw everyone look at him with grins in their faces, eyebrows shooting up and down. He couldn't stop laughing.

Jaemin cleared his throat. "How old are we talking?"

"Oh god. Shut up. Shut up," Yukhei said, "I don't wanna hear anything else about this. You disgust me." He said, pointing at Mark. The other started laughing, hitting him straight into his chest. Yukhei groaned once again but suddenly, he found himself giggling, leaning into him, hitting his arm.

The cold breeze of the night hit him like a ton of bricks. The moment he stood outside of the building of Yukhei’s apartment, his vision cleared. His senses were still a bit numb, though — he didn’t feel Renjun holding his arm until he pushed him a moment later, telling him to hurry up.

September wasn’t a cold month but, during the night, there was a chilling breeze around the city. It reminded him of Jeju. Donghyuck sighed, Renjun made a face at him but continued talking to Mark, who was next to him chatting him up about some historical movie he had seen recently — at some point, he heard Harry Styles being mentioned and decided to stop paying attention to their conversation. 

Instead, he decided to look ahead and try to not trip into thin air. He swore he wasn’t that drunk.

Next to him, Yukhei was snickering at everything he saw. He was wearing a thick jacket and it reminded him of his first day in Barcelona. He groaned and it caught Yukhei’s attention.

“What do you think about tangerines?” Yukhei asked him out of nowhere.

Donghyuck frowned, he wasn't expecting that question. “Tangerines?”

“Small. Sometimes green, sometimes orange. Really bitter or really sweet. Tangerines.” 

“I guess I— No. I definitely like them. It’s one of my favourite fruits, actually,” Donghyuck replied. “I like them better when they’re bitter. The green ones.”

“I love the green ones!” He said with clear excitement in his voice. “The sweet ones are, you know, too sweet.”

“Exactly!” Donghyuck yelled. Yukhei started giggling and making all sorts of expressions with his hands, complaining about the people who preferred sweet tangerines.

They noticed not everyone had joined them to the club. Most of them decided to go back to their own apartments and keep drinking there, or decided to go bar-hopping.

It ended up being just the seven of them. He observed Jaemin and Jeno, arms intertwined, quietly talking to each other. It was a completely different scene from the one next to him — Renjun and Mark.

Both of them were talking really animatedly, it gave Donghyuck an odd sensation. Old him would have frowned at the scene, but really, they were just two people that just met, were drunk and coincidentally got along really well. It wasn’t like Mark was going to replace him.

Donghyuck shook his head to clear his thoughts and before he knew it, they were queueing to get into the club. The ground under his feet felt a bit wet and the air was suffocating, he felt like throwing up. 

“Aren’t you a lightweight?” Yukhei jokingly said, looking at him up and down. He was grinning, hair quite disheveled because of the wind. Donghyuck couldn’t quite believe he looked good even like that. It was probably his exposed chest. And those jeans that were tight in all the right places. Or the smooth eye-shadow he wore on his eyelids, making them all droopy and inviting. He noticeably gulped. 

“I don’t usually drink.” Yukhei’s eyes widened. He didn’t know his eyes could get any bigger. They were sparkling.

“Was today special or something?” Yukhei wondered. Donghyuck shrugged.

“I got tired of seeing everyone drunk, I guess. And I missed the feeling.”

“Of being drunk?”

“I just felt like letting go for the night. I don’t do that a lot.”

Yukhei got closer to him and bumped their shoulders together, making him lose balance for a second. “I hope you have fun tonight, then. We won’t have many nights like this once classes start, you know.”

“I figured. And I’m already having fun. Thank you.”

Yukhei leaned in against the wall that was behind them, eyes fixed on the group of people in front of them. Then looked back and caught sight of their friends. 

“Why are you thanking me?”

“I felt like it. Also you’re handsome and I appreciate spending the night with a handsome boy since my roommate abandoned me to talk about movies to some other guy.” Donghyuck rambled.

“Hey! That other guy is my roommate — Mark, right?” Yukhei asked, a grin on his face.

“Yeah, obviously.”

If the air outside of the club was suffocating, inside he felt a heavy pressure deep into his chest. Donghyuck decided he would have one last shot.

Once they were all inside, the first thing they did was go to the bar.

“Seven tequila shots!” Donghyuck yelled at the bartender — the music was too loud. 

He let out a loud chuckle when he heard his friends groan in unison. 

The bartender made a row of seven shot glasses, one next to the other and grabbed the tequila, filling all the glasses, clear liquid spilling over the counter. He also prepared small packs of salt and sliced lime — to put it on their glasses.

All of them got into a row by the counter, pushing some people around to make space to take the shot. One by one, they poured the salt on their hands, in between their thumb and pointing finger. 

They looked at each other and once everyone was ready, they licked the salt. Donghyuck felt his face scrunch up.

He heard some groans next to him — Jeno and Renjun already downed their shots and were already chasing with the lime in between their lips.

Donghyuck looked to the side and saw Jaemin staring at him, shot on his hands. Donghyuck saw him down the shot at once, face straight, bringing his lips into a thin line. His eyes betrayed him.

Donghyuck picked up his last drink of the night, stared at the clear liquid for a second and downed it without any thought. His throat burned and he felt a tear of tequila running down his chin. He quickly picked up the lime and pressed it to his lips, tasting the bitter feeling until he finally bit on it. 

The burn didn’t disappear and the dizziness came back.

Everything after that moment felt like a blur. The music echoed inside his head and Donghyuck moved along with it. He grabbed Jaemin’s hand and guided him to the dance floor, their friends following them. 

Once they were surrounded by strangers and the musky scent of sweat, Donghyuck started moving his hips and Jaemin followed, curling his arms around his neck.

Hours passed. Dancing, yelling, Donghyuck was pretty sure once Jaemin left him to dance with Jeno, those two disappeared soon after. He was left with Renjun, Yukhei and Mark for the remaining hours. 

While they were dancing to some Spanish song, he felt Renjun’s eyes on his. Mark and Yukhei were next to them, eyes closed, moving against each other. Renjun tilted his head slightly to the side and gave him a curt nod. Donghyuck grinned.

When the song ended, Donghyuck immediately grabbed Mark’s shirt and guided him outside.

It was around one in the morning when Donghyuck found himself walking around the streets of Barcelona with his newly found friend, away from the chaotic vibe of the ongoing party — he wanted to enjoy some peace and quiet with Mark.

They decided to get some ice cream from an ice cream stand, not too far from the club. They needed to find their friends at the end of the night, after all.

They sat in a comfortable silence, licking their respective ice creams, savouring the sweetness in his mouth. Donghyuck ate his earnestly, desperate to give something sweet to his body after all the shots he had been doing during the night. Now that he thought about it, his surroundings didn't feel entirely straight and he was starting to get a bit dizzy.

"You got some on your face," Mark said.

Donghyuck rubbed his cheeks and asked: "Yeah? Where?"

Mark giggled, "No, not there," he got closer to his face to get the ice cream off of his nose. "Right here."

Both of them stood there, face to face, impossibly closer to each other. Donghyuck looked up at Mark's eyes and when they noticed how close they were, both of them visibly flushed. Mark looked to the side, embarrassed, but when he looked back again he found Donghyuck looking straight into him, eyes glowing under the moonlight, cheeks slightly coloured because of the alcohol.

It soon turned into a fit of giggles, so they separated and smiled at their silliness.

They didn't say anything for a long minute; Mark was still blushing, trying to calm himself down.

Out of nowhere, Donghyuck asked him how it was going with his crush. Mark, who was halfway licking his ice cream, smashed it to his face by accident. In that instant, he could feel how hot his face felt and how he most certainly was turning very, very red.

"I don't know what you're talking about,” Mark replied, picking up the remains of ice cream from his cheeks with his fingers. He licked them after it. 

"Oh. Yes, you do,” Donghyuck punctuated, "that crush you mentioned? Back at Yukhei's?”

"Oh." 

"Yeah," Donghyuck said, exasperated. Mark giggled into his hand.

"What's so funny?"

"You would laugh too if you knew who I was talking about," Donghyuck frowned.

"Old? Not too tall? You're probably talking about one of your classmates. All film students look old and they're definitely not tall,” he grumbled, crossing his arms.

"Are you calling me short?"

"No, I'm not."

"You just did, though?" 

"No, I didn't. You're not short for reasons,” Donghyuck hissed.

"Is the reason the fact that I'm actually taller than you?" He knew Mark was teasing him, trying to make him lose his cool. He wouldn’t let him.

"Definitely not. I don't know what you're talking about, Mark Lee."

"I think I'm starting to understand you,” Mark nodded to himself.

"You might be getting the wrong person. I talk jack shit when I'm drunk."

"I don't think you're that drunk anymore. That ice cream did wonders,” Mark said, signaling the cones they both were still holding.

"Maybe it did. You'll never know. You don't know anything about me."

"I could. If you told me,” Mark said while he observed Donghyuck breaking into a laugh.

"Not today, Mark Lee. Not today," he shook his head.

"Okay, then. What do you think about coming over and watching a movie with me?"

"I'm not watching a movie with a film student. Not today, not ever. Especially not with someone that actually likes Tarantino. I thought we were joking about that."

Mark gaped. When he was about to blurt something out, Donghyuck interrupted him: "And I’m drunk."

"Scared you’ll do something you’ll regret?" Mark asked him, a smirk plastered on his face. Donghyuck looked at him, he was probably joking. He shrugged.

"I wanna go home," Donghyuck replied without much thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [twt](https://twitter.com/whinymark)   
>  [cc](https://curiouscat.me/mixtape4)

**Author's Note:**

> you can find me on [cc](https://curiouscat.me/mixtape4) or [twt](https://twitter.com/whinymark)
> 
> leave kudos n comments if u liked it!


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